Former Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika died on Friday at the age of 84. The state television of Algeria reports it, citing a statement from the presidency of the Republic. Since his fall in April 2019 under pressure from the army and street protests, Bouteflika had been holed up in solitude in his nursing home in Zeralda, west of Algiers.
His downfall became inevitable after weeks of massive demonstrations against his desire to run for a fifth five-year term, after 20 years in power, despite his illness.
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Bouteflika died “at 10 pm in his place of residence,” according to the private channel El Hayet TV. Omnipresent in Algerian political life for decades, but almost invisible since he suffered a stroke in 2013, Bouteflika had given no signs of life since. when the popular protest movement “Hirak” and the army forced him to resign.
That day he had last appeared on television to announce that he was throwing in the towel. He was officially spoken of for the last time when his brother Nacer voted by proxy on his behalf for the presidential elections of 12 December 2019, which allowed the election of his successor, President Abdelamadjid Tebboune.